With the
Supreme Court ordering
that the government should implement the 'One Rank, One Pension' (OROP) within
six weeks, ex-servicemen have said the implementation should be for all ranks
and not just for the major general rank for which the case was filed.
In
relation to a case going on in the Supreme Court pertaining to the difference
in pension of major general rank officers, the apex court in February gave the
government a three-month deadline for implementation of OROP.
"Additional
Solicitor General Pinky Anand said in the hearing that the government has
sanctioned OROP after which the case will be solved itself. The Supreme Court
then gave a three-month deadline, which has passed," said Maj. Gen.
(retd.) Satbir Singh, chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement.
"The
impression now being created is that OROP will be only for major general rank,
which is not true. OROP is for all ranks and has to be implemented for all
ranks," the retired army officer told IANS.
In
February, a bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice A.K. Goel gave the
government a three-month deadline for implementing OROP.
On
Wednesday, the bench gave the Centre another six weeks for implementation of
OROP on a request made by Anand, who asked for some more time to enable the
government to do the needful.
"The
SC order is clear, OROP shall be implemented," Maj. Gen. Singh said.
Meanwhile,
braving incessant rain, ex-servicemen continued their protest at Jantar Mantar
in the national capital.
Saturday
was the 28th day of the protest by ex-servicemen over OROP, which began on June
14. Since June 15, the veterans have been holding a relay hunger strike.
"Both
the UPA and NDA governments' sanctions of OROP were an eyewash. I hope that the
present government will now abide by the SC order," Maj. Gen. Singh added.
The
ex-servicemen are demanding that the government give them a date for
implementation of OROP. They have also demanded that the nature of the scheme
should not be changed.
Currently,
pension for retired personnel is based on the Pay Commission recommendations at
the time when the personnel retired.
This leads to a difference in pension for officers of
the same rank who retire on different dates.
We should not assume that the Supreme Court order is for all exservicemen.Clarification should be obtained from Supreme Court .
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